What should I consider before taking or refusing a breath test?

Nov 26, 2014

What should I consider before taking or refusing a breath test?

Posted By
Sutton & Janelle, PLLC

Today is the busiest travel day of the year, and with good reason. Thanksgiving
is a short holiday with little time off of work, yet most of us canât
imagine spending Thanksgiving without our families. As such, we rush to
make the trip in time.

Because Thanksgiving often includes alcoholic drinks (at home or at a bar
catching up with friends), there will likely be more law enforcement officers
out on West Virginia roads over the next couple days. This includes increased
DUI patrols here in Jefferson and Berkeley Counties.

Unfortunately, this is a question that cannot be answered with a simple
âyesâ or âno.â Rather, it has to be a
personal choice you make after learning the potential benefits and consequences
of both actions.

If you agree to take the test, you obviously run the risk of demonstrating
that you are at or above the legal blood-alcohol concentration limit of
0.08 percent. If the test results hold up in court, you can be convicted
of DUI under the stateâs âper seâ laws. This means
that the test results can show that you were legally intoxicated and no
other evidence is needed to bolster the case.

That being said, you may have limited your alcohol intake and feel fairly
confident that you could pass a breath-alcohol test. In that case, you
may decide you want to take the test. To be clear, you could still be
charged with impaired driving (depending on what driving behaviors the
officer witnessed), but a drunk driving conviction would be more difficult
to obtain.

It is within your legal rights to refuse to take the test. If you are fairly
confident that you are at or above 0.08 percent BAC, refusing the test
could help your criminal case and could even prevent the DUI charge from
going on your record.

The consequences of
refusing a test, however, are significant. Test refusal will result in a one-year driverâs
license suspension by the West Virginia DMV. Obviously, that is no small
punishment, particularly if you rely on your license to either do your
work or to get you to and from work.

In the end, the choice has to be yours and yours alone. If you find yourself
facing criminal charges for DUI, however, you should seek experienced
legal help as soon as possible.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.